Last Mass for Syracuse's St. Stephen Church

Meg Fenton / The Post-StandardThe last hymn dragged on slower and slower. No one in the congregation seemed to want to finish what would be the last mass.
"It's hard to say goodbye to a church," said Anne LaPiccirella, right, who has never been to another church. "They say it's only a building. Boy, am I tired of hearing that." LaPiccirella's parents and grandparents all attended the parish. She received every sacrament there, and all of her family members' funerals have been in the church. She cannot imagine worshipping anywhere else. She is comforted by Diana Buckley, left, who also grew up in the parish.
St. Stephen's Church is one of several churches that will close as part of a reorganization of the Syracuse Diocese. The parish was created in 1915 to serve Czechoslovakian Catholics in the area. It is a small, tight-knit community.

About 125 people filled the pews tonight for the final Mass at St. Stephen Church in Syracuse.

It's one of two churches and three missions that closed this week in the first major round of changes in the restructuring of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse. The closing Mass was on the feast day of the parish's patron saint, St. Stephen of Hungary.

"It's just like having a death in the family," said Joe Rizzo, an usher and church volunteer.

St. Stephen opened in 1915 to serve Czechoslovakian Catholics. The congregation dates to 1909.

During a brief homily, Monsignor Peter Gleba said the history of St. Stephen is intertwined with Syracuse's immigrant past. The European ethnic neighborhoods and parishes have changed, he said.

He encouraged people to be open-minded about joining the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, about a half-mile away. Gleba is that church's pastor.